The Barcelona's Maker Movement

Barcelona is one of the most international cities of the world, and has been the home of creative minds like Picasso, Dali, Gaudi, Miró… to name some of the most known among many others. It is also a city of architecture and design, where many young students spend time learning from the city itself, almost every street or plaza is a piece of art and innovation. Barcelona, and specially Poblenou, is also known as the Catalan Manchester for its history in the textile industry during the XIXth century, and one of the first cities to implement the electricity in its streets. Many writers, scientists, artists, architects, innovators and creators have found in Barcelona a place of inspiration, but also a home, and have been part of the construction of one of the most exciting cities in the world.

Barcelona has embraced the digital revolution as the host of large events such as the Mobile World Congress, the Smart City Expo, Sonar, IAM, among others, which bring thousands of visitors to the city every year to celebrate digital innovation and creativity. Maker Faire Barcelona is not just another Maker Faire, or another event in the city, it is the celebration of a new vision for a productive city that a world capital in design, innovation, architecture, urbanism and creativity.

During the last 10 years Barcelona has been consolidating its position in the world of the maker movement. Since 2007, it hosts the first Fab Lab in the European Union, which is a world reference in the Fab Lab Network, coordinating programs like the Academany, Fab Academy or the Fab City project. In 2014 Barcelona hosted one of the most important events in the world of cities and technology: The 10th International Fab Lab Conference (FAB10); the city also hosts a public network of Fab Labs (Ateneus de Fabricació) that are serving as a new service for any citizen to experience the potentials of digital fabrication to transform the city productive model and empower neighbours at Les Corts, Nou Barris or Barceloneta. Barcelona completes an ecosystem of Fab Labs, Maker Spaces, companies, start ups, associations and cooperatives that are looking into a different future, a future in which citizens are the owners of their own destiny, and in which collaboration is one of the key values to make it happen.

This is the fourth edition of Maker Faire Barcelona, an event that aims to bring together Barcelona’s creative and innovation communities, and understand them as part of an ecosystem that holds the potential to transform how we will live, work and play in our cities, through the democratisation of technology. Come to celebrate with us in a weekend of workshops, conferences, demos, presentations and interactions.